Date of Award

Spring 5-5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Jonathan Conning

Second Advisor

Karna Basu

Academic Program Adviser

Karna Basu

Abstract

I test for heterogenous effects in the Prospects of Upward Mobility (POUM) hypothesis framework. This framework suggests that individuals who are poorer than average but expect to become richer than average support less redistribution. Using a survey of households in primarily transition economies - Life in Transition Survey (LiTS2) and ordered logistic regression, I test whether the POUM effect is influenced by the riskiness of the individual's environment or political beliefs. The results suggest that the POUM effect holds independent of the riskiness of the environment but is conditional on political beliefs. The prospects of upward mobility decrease redistributive support only for left-wing individuals, particularly those with low risk aversion.

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